Water closet valve means

ABSTRACT

A WATER-CLOSET AND THE LIKE WHEREIN THE WEIGHT OF A TANK FILLED WITH WATER IS RELEASED AND FALLS DOWNWARD TO COMPRESS A SPRING AND THUS OPEN A VALVE TO FLUSH THE CONTENTS IN A TIOLET BOWL.

June 8,1971

Filed Sept. 10, 1969 c. w. NEELY 3,582,996

WATER CLOSET VALVE MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY June 1971 c. w. NEELY WATER CLOSET VALVE MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 10. 1969 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,582,996 WATER CLOSET VALVE MEANS Curtis W. Neely, San Francisco, Calif. (453 36 1014, Hq. C0. USCONARC, Fort Monroe, Va. 23351) Filed Sept. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 856,709 Int. Cl. E03d N36 US. Cl. 4-41 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A water-closet and the like wherein the weight of a tank filled with water is released and falls downward to compress a spring and thus open a valve to flush the contents in a toilet bowl.

This invention relates to water closets or often called toilets and a new concept is presented in the design and mechanical parts of this bathroom fixture.

Included there is a new and special valve means employed in combination with a toilet bowl and the like. The combination is for a device that is dependable for efficient action for flushing bowls etc. and has very few moving parts so as to give long and carefree service.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a valve means which is actuated by the weight of a tank of water when the tank is released by a lever means, that is, the weight of a tank of flush water is employed as the motivating force when released 'by the user of the fixture.

Another object is to provide a flushing device which is simple in operation and construction in that few moving parts are employed, thus the invention is inexpensive to manufacture but the device is sturdy to give long dependable service.

Other objects will become apparent upon reading the specifications and drawings.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application, all similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the various views.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a water closet device and discloses one of the possible forms of such a fixture;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view showing the valve means per se, and is shown on a somewhat larger scale than that of FIG. 1, parts are shown in section, and some parts broken away to simplify the illustration;

FIG. 3 is a view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and same is shown on a smaller scale;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on a scale commensurate to that of FIG. 2 and the view shows certain parts in a different operative position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view like FIG. 2 and it shows certain parts in still other operative positions.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 1 of the drawings wherein a toilet bowl 1 is shown having the base 2 which is fixed to the floor 3 in any suitable manner such as by bolts and the like. A tank to contain water is indicated at 4 and this tank has a neck portion 5 which extends into a housing means 6 which is part of the general bowl structure 1. A lever means 7 is shown for letting the tank 4 drop by gravity. City water is admitted to the fixture through a pipe means 8 and inserted in this pipe line there is a check valve 9 to prevent water from the bowl entering into the water supply. A handle controlled vent .10 is provided for the tank so that air pressure in the tank can be released or regulated if need be.

As disclosed in FIG. 2, the chamber 11 of the tank connects with the passage 12 in the neck 5. The neck has at its low end a piston-like valve head 13 which rides smoothly and reciprocates in the chamber 14, the wall 15 of which provides a guide for the valve head. Ob-

3,582,996 Patented June 8, 1971 Ice viously, the guide wall and the piston valve head have the same shape on a horizontal plane so that reciprocation of the valve head is true and also sealed to prevent passage of water between it and the wall.

A guide plate means 16 is secured to the top of the housing 6 by any suitable means, and it has a guide opening to accommodate the neck 5 and serves as a bearing like wall 15. A pair of such guide means gives stability for the neck and container. Additional guide means may be employed if desired and placed about the container.

The plate 16 has a raised portion 17 which accommodates the bottom end portion of a spring element 18 and serves to center the spring. The bottom of the tank may also have such a portion as 17 to accommodate the top end of the spring, but this would hardly be necessary and especially so if the tank portion is enclosed in a casing to protect it from damage.

Along one side of the neck 5 there is a pair of spaced apart notches or dents 19 and 20 in predetermined spots to receive the nose portion of a spring member 21 which is fixed to the raised portion 17. The nose of the spring is constantly urged or sprung toward the neck 5 so as to enter one of the notches for a temporary holding operation of the tank when the valve head is in its uppermost and downwardmost positions. The valve housing has the inlet for city water indicated at 8" and an outlet 22 which leads to an upper portion of the toilet bowl in a manner well known to the trade.

A bracket member 23 has a foot portion fixed to the housing 6 and its top portion is the integral lever 7. A bar 24 extends from the tank 4 and is firmly fixed thereto and this bar is designed to have its distal end engage the stop element or means 25 which is integral with the lever 7 in the manner indicated. When the lever is pulled and sprung from the tank 5, the stopreleases the bar and hence the tank 4 which will then fall by gravitational force to lower the valve head 13. Note, that the numeral 26 is a passage through the valve head and it allows some water to pool in the bowl while 8 is still open. This feature assures that a pool of water will form in the bowl after the contents of the bowl are flushed away.

OPERATION Normally, the parts of the described water closet are at rest in the positions shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. City water, which is generally around a pressure of 40 to 60 pounds per square inch, is present at the inlet 8. The tank 4 is almost filled with the city water, that is, as completely filled as permitted by back pressure of the trapped air at the top of the chamber in the tank.

When the user of the water closet wishes to clear the toilet bowl, he shifts the springy lever 7 away from the tank a short distance and this releases the bar 24 so that the weight of the full tank causes it to fall by gravity and also trapped air pressure against the force of the spring 18 and this places the moving parts in positions as shown in FIG. 4. This position of the valve head releases city water from inlet 8' and also from the tank 4 at the same time and this water from the inlet .in jet-like fashion runs to outlet 22. In this manner the bowl is flushed clear in that the water therein is forced through a trap in a drain that is not illustrated but well known to the trade. It is believed unnecessary to show traps and drains and sewer connections as same does not form part of the invention.

The springy catch 21 and notch '19 holds the valve temporarily in the position shown in FIG. 4 until the bowl is cleared of contents. The spring 18 returns the tank upwardly in that the tank is now light in weight or nearly empty. The tank rises to its uppermost position as shown in FIG. 5. The valve head 13 is obviously in a position now to close the outlet 22 but leave the inlet 8' open to fill or almost fill the tank 4, a position where the tank is temporarily held by the catch 21 and its engaged notch 20. The small passage 26 allows for a small'pool of fresh water to form in the bowl for next operation.

Note, that the notches and catch are so designed that any real force, material force, up or down on the neck will cause the catch 21 to slip from its engaged notch.

As the tank 4 becomes heavy with city water from 8' it will fall to the original normal position shown in FIG. 2 and the bar 24 will arrest the downward motion by engaging the stop 25. Now, the parts are positioned properly for a repeat operation to flush the toilet bowl.

Obviously, a pressure regulator may be placed in the city water line 8 so as to have the pressure so great as to interfere with normal operation of the water closet and other fixtures in the bathroom. it might be well to state here, that the tank 4, housing 6 and bowl 1 do not necessarily have to be placed adjacent one another in that the tank and housing or just the tank may be placed at a high elevation in the room or behind a partition of a dwelling place. However, to be modern in such a fixture, it is better to have all the parts associated together in a manner similar to that shown in the drawings.

Certain novel features and details of this invention are disclosed herein, and in some cases in considerable detail, and this is in order to make the invention clear in at least one form thereof. However, it is to be clearly understood that the invention as disclosed is not necessarily limited to the exact form and details disclosed since it is apparent that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described and claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed and believed new and which is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A water closet device including a bowl with means for disposal of contents therein, a housing having valve means therein with an outlet for passage of water to the bowl, an inlet for admitting Water to the valve means, a tank for holding a supply of water and which tank has a neck portion extending into the housing, a valve head integral with the neck and situated in the housing for opening and closing the inlet and outlet, a passage through the neck for ingress and egress of water to and from the tank, spring means for raising the tank when lightened due to the weight of the tank with water therein being 4 decreased when water is dispensed therefrom, and control means for releasing the tank to allow it to fall and rise, the weight of the tank filled with water upon the control means being released causes the tank to move downward to compress the spring and open the valve for flushing the contents from the bowl.

2. The device recited in claim 1 wherein the neck portion is provided with notches and a catch means fixed to the housing adapted to enter only one notch at a time to temporarily hold the tank in predetermined positions.

3. The device recited in claim 1 wherein the spring means surrounds the neck portion of the tank between it and the housing.

4. The device recited in claim 1 wherein the control means comprises a bar fixed to the tank and extending therefrom, a lever fixed to the housing with means to engage the bar and hold the tank in its normal position.

5. The device recited in claim 1 wherein the wall of the housing provides a guide means for the valve means and a plate fixed to the top portion of the housing with guide means for the neck portion of the tank.

6. The device recited in claim 1 wherein the tank is provided with a valved vent means at a high level to vary the air pressure therein when the tank is nearly filled with water.

7. The device recited in claim 1 wherein the neck portion is provided with notches, and a catch means for temporarily engaging the said notches, spring means surrounding the neck portion between the housing portion and the tank, a lever means fixed to the housing having a stop, and a bar extending from the tank which engages the stop when the tank is in normal position, and a guide means fixed to the top of the housing for the neck portion and which guide means has a raised portion that serves as a bottom rest for the spring means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,151,338 10/1964 Nunnery 4--4-1 HOUSTON S. BELL, 1a., Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 4-68; 25122 

